


Love Confession: You Like Me

by HaroThar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental First Date, Feelings Realization, First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Other, Shopping, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26499841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaroThar/pseuds/HaroThar
Summary: Allura agrees to save Pidge from spending their last day on Earth cooped up with their parents, and Pidge does their level best to show her a nice time.
Relationships: Allura/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Love Confession: You Like Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CruelisnotMason](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CruelisnotMason/gifts).



> This is for an art-writing exchange, and I had a surprising amount of fun with this! It's been a while since I've been able to just sit down and focus on writing anything, and what a cute thing for me to be able to focus on <3

“Allura!” Pidge shouted, nearly kicking down the thankfully-motion-detective door and barrelling into the room. Allura was on her feet in a moment, summoning her bayard, heart caught in her throat at the alarmed distress in her friend’s eyes. “Allura, I need your help!”

“What is it?!”

Pidge grasped her hand in their own, staring ardently up at her. “Let me take you for a day on the town!”

Allura blanked, her bayard naturally deforming and held loosely in her hand.

“What.”

“Please! Listen, Allura, I love my mom, I do, profoundly, if she’d been the one kidnapped by purple aliens I would’ve gone for her the same way I did for dad and Matt, but Allura. _Allura._ I’m about to spend, like,” Pidge released one hand to fling it skyward, “an _indefinite_ amount of time with her locked in the same spaceship. We’re going to _resume cohabitating._ I cannot spend my last day on Earth for who knows how long taking _family photos!”_

Allura felt Romelle settle both hands on her shoulder and perch her chin atop them, staring over Allura at the spectacle that was a winded, desperate Pidge pleading for salvation. Allura felt herself blink rapidly.

“Al…right?”

“Thank you!” Pidge shouted, releasing Allura’s hand suddenly and pumping both fists in the air. “I’ll show you a good time, I promise! It’ll be like a cultural exchange!”

Allura felt her cheeks heat slightly at Pidge’s phrasing, as well as heard Romelle’s muffled snort given the proximity to her ear, but she smiled with a rush of air, and put away her bayard entirely. She glanced at the Altean behind the glass (and oh, that she would meet others of her own kind again, only to have them try to kill her and her loved ones _again!)_ and then shook her head, rustling her hair about her shoulders. “I think I could use a good distraction, anyway.”

Pidge glanced at the man, then nodded decisively. “Sweet, I’ll save you from depressing thoughts, you save me from my mom’s hairbrush.”

“It’s a date,” Allura said, attempting to return a gentle tease for Pidge’s earlier phrasing, but they didn’t notice.

“Great, now?”

“Now’s fine,” Allura said, and Romelle gave her a playful little push on the shoulder, winking in that mischievous way she had and Allura rolled her eyes fondly. 

“Have fun you two!” Romelle said brightly, dancing out of the room and past them, and Allura walked beside Pidge, who was texting--likely their mother. With a grand sigh, they stretched their arms above their head and then back behind their neck, looking the polar opposite of how they’d entered the room, relieved and relaxed.

“Thanks again, you’re really saving my ass,” Pidge said, with that casual crudeness they seemed to share with Keith. Allura chuckled, and bumped against their shoulder lightly.

“I firmly doubt it is as horrific as you are making it out to be.”

They levelled a finger at her, glancing up with a slight shine crossing their glasses as the two passed beneath the fluorescent lights. “That’s because you haven’t met my mother. Like, in a casual setting, anyway; you’ve met her officially but she’s got a _pristine_ work persona. The first time I saw her interacting with officials I thought maybe she’d been replaced with a new advanced AI prototype that the Garrison had developed and for some reason put into a chassis meant to look just like her. She’s polite? Anyway, the longer you spend with her the more you’re going to realize that there’s a reason I launched my pubescent self into space, took on a hostile enemy empire, and dogmatically pursued my family; and the reason is hereditary. She--oh hang on that’s her.”

Allura watched them open their phone screen and within a moment they were closing in against her side, lifting the device. “Photographic evidence required,” they offered, and Allura smiled and looped her arm around their shoulder, lifting up twin fingers for the camera in a way that Hunk had assured her was considered charming among Earth cultures.

“Nice. Alabi acquired and sent,” Pidge said smugly, then grabbed Allura’s hand and pulled her forward, hastening her along. “C’mon, let’s go see what’s up on Earth.”

Her longer legs kept stride easily, and they didn’t slow until the two of them were in some sort of open market. Booths and stalls lined the pathways, cluttering storefronts that then had to boast their own wares on signs nailed or taped over their doorways. 

“Oh hey,” Pidge chimed, perking up at the sight of a green, geometric sign, “let’s see what video games survived the apocalypse.” They slipped between a stall that had a number of glinting, shining trinkets (which Allura would want to inspect once they left the building) and someone who was selling some sort of gourds.

Immediately, Allura wanted to return to the outdoors. There was shade and a decrease in noise inside, sure, but it _smelled_ to high heavens! Pidge either didn’t mind, with their human nose, or simply ignored it, though, perusing over a set of very thin graphic novellas and a collection of figurines.

“Allura, come check this out!” they beckoned, and she went further into the rank store. Pidge’s face was just so excited, she couldn’t have told them no even if it had smelled ten times worse and been hot beside. She loved seeing them engrossed.

“They have Harley Quinn comics! Oh man, here’s the one where Ivy shows up!”

Allura peered over their shoulder and then listened to Pidge rattle out a truly extensive onslaught of knowledge about the characters, series, themes, and history of the “comics.” Allura didn’t think the plot sounded all that comedic, so she did not quite understand the name, but as near as she could tell such was simply the word for the thin graphic novellas. 

Pidge ended up not buying anything, but Allura hadn’t expected them to. Pidge was the sort of person who liked talking about their interests. Like with their programming and technology, Allura didn’t really understand, but what mattered to Pidge was that she listened and didn’t ask them to repeat themself “in English.” It had taken Allura an embarrassingly long time to figure it out, but, well, she’d had a lot on her plate since waking up from cryosleep okay?

The trinket seller was a shrewd individual, catching Allura’s eager attention easily and promoting a number of wares, all of which were delightful and shiny and beautiful. Allura was particularly drawn to a floral hairpiece, with gold trimming and pink petals and cascading green foliage that would seamlessly merge into her long hair. Never before had she been so frustrated while window shopping--she _couldn’t_ buy it. 

“Anything you’d trade for that?” Pidge asked, catching onto Allura’s desire as well. Allura was about to open her mouth in protest--she didn’t _need_ it--but the vendor was quicker.

“How about an autographed picture of the two of you? My daughter’s a big fan of the Voltron show!”

Well.

Pidge had to do their hair up rather goofily, and tied their jacket about their waist, but Allura found it… honestly charming. They looked silly like that, but it was cute, and if they pinched their nose they sounded _just_ like their tv counterpart. It set Allura to giggling, as Pidge used one hand to fasten the hairpiece, and the other to narrate their deeds with the nasally tone.

“And there, my pretty,” they said with a nya-ha-ha! “All se--Oh my god,” they interrupted themself, grabbing onto Allura’s arm. “I haven’t had a street hot dog in years. Oh my god. Hang on. Let’s see if we can’t autograph something there, too.” They pulled Allura towards a truly delicious scent, like something Hunk would make, but with that distinct quality that meant it would be fatty and greasy and overloaded with condiments. Allura had rarely smelled such indulgences on Altea, and had always been made to pass them by. Her mouth watered.

Pidge allowed a short video to be taken of them, dramatically posing in the way Coran had always insisted (and they’d always protested) and giving a special shoutout to “Andrea,” encouraging her to follow her dreams. The hot dog vendor gladly thanked Pidge for the clip, expressing how delighted Andrea would be, and handed Pidge and Allura heavy rectangular boats filled with bread, meat, and sauce. 

“Mmmmm,” Allura moaned at the very first bite, sitting on the ground for lack of benches, cardboard balanced on her lap. “Oh _Pidge,”_ she exclaimed, licking at a fleck of relish caught on her lip. 

“Street hot dogs,” Pidge agreed, demolishing theirs, “God, I’ve missed this.”

“I never had anything like this,” Allura told them, “As princess, street food was not something I was allowed to partake in.”

“Well, princess, I’m gonna fix that today!” Pidge swore, their clever eyes scanning the area. She could practically see them plotting. It was horribly endearing. 

“You’ve got yellow all over your face,” Allura commented. She reached out and gently thumbed at the smear, sticking the finger into her own mouth and enjoying the zingy taste.

“Thanks,” Pidge said distractedly, sucking each of their own fingers with a pop, having finished their food already.

“You were hungry,” Allura remarked, biting into what was more or less the halfway mark of her own.

“Grew up with an older brother; makes you a fast eater.”

“Mm.”

Pidge watched the crowd as Allura ate, and Allura watched Pidge. They were so focused. So clever and intent. She was done with her food without realizing, and then, feeling terribly improper and delighted by it, sucked off each one of her fingers, just as Pidge had done. Her nanny would’ve had her ears if she’d seen.

“Where to next?”

Pidge took her past clothing, accessories, dyes, fabrics, and craft materials, Allura enamored at each one, amazed by the sheer creativity humans could put into their art and appearances, but also insisted on stopping by every gizmo, gadget, and widget they saw. Allura saw them all but salivate over some sort of… transcriber? They explained, in full length, the purpose and function of the device, but Allura found it a little bit beyond her. Altean magi-sciences tended to rely more heavily on the magic and less so on the exact, precise words and alignments of the science.

What she did understand was that Pidge wanted it, and so she pulled the store clerk close and indicated her desire to buy it for them, which was how she found herself being carried bridal style while the young man posed “heroically” for a photo. She politely did not laugh at him, though her smile may have been more humored than admiring. 

Pidge thought it was hilarious, not bothering to hide their giggling, right up until Allura handed them the gadget and their eyes went wide as dinner plates. 

“Oh my god, Allura you didn’t have to!” Pidge said delightedly, immediately pulling out tweezers and their pocket screwdriver/knife/thing and hooking it up to their own systems. 

“It is my pleasure,” Allura assured, tugging gently on their arm so they didn’t accidentally walk straight into a pole. They were easily guided. It was another thing she’d noticed about them--how Pidge rarely initiated contact with anyone who wasn’t Matt or Shiro, but was receptive to trusted friends touching them. It wasn’t that they were touch-averse, just that they never seemed to think to do it.

Curiously, not quite sure of what motivated her, she reached out and held their hand. They allowed it, distractedly did not even seem to realize she was doing it. She snorted under her breath, charmed. Ever charmed.

Then she found herself glad to be already holding onto them as she dragged them through another store front. “Oh,” she admired, reaching out to touch the fabric, “it’s beautiful.”

“Oh, cute,” Pidge remarked. Allura pulled the strawberry dress off its hangar, pressing the fabric to her bust and twirling shallowly, admiring the flow of fabric. “Extra cute.”

Allura giggled and smoothed her hand down the fabric, then her breath caught in her throat. She checked, and yes.

“Pidge it has pockets.”

“Oh my god you have to get it.”

The problem was that the Unalu who ran the shop knew exactly how much the dress was worth, and a couple of signatures or video clips weren’t going to cut it.

“Hmmmm,” the Unalu pretended to consider what he wanted, though if Allura’s experience with them held true, he already knew exactly what he was going to ask for. “You know, rumor has it that you have a rare copy of Mercury Gameflux Two.”

Pidge took a closed off stance, eyes narrowed, arms crossed. “I might.”

“With the original power glove that gives you infinite lives if you touch the index finger to the pinky?”

“Potentially.”

The Unalu lifted a hand and rubbed his thumb across his pointer and middle fingers. “Well?”

Pidge stared at him. He stared at them. And they stared at him. And he stared at them.

“Don’t sell that,” Pidge said, grabbing Allura’s wrist and backing out the door, pointing at the dress. “We’ll be right back.”

“Oh, Pidge, I know you love that game,” Allura said, “You don’t have to.”

“Eh, I already finished it,” Pidge said. “It definitely has replay value, but, y’know. We’re gonna be in space anyway.”

They were downplaying, a lot, but Allura couldn’t bring herself to try and stop them as they went back to the green lion, got the game, and marched her back to the shop.

When she came out of the dressing room, their broad grin was enough to assuage her guilt.

“Allura, you look amazing!”

Allura twirled, enjoying the light, fluttery feeling of the fabric about her knees. The bare stretch of her lower legs prickled with the warm air, and she experimentally gave her left leg a little pop, hands flared out at her sides.

Pidge giggled and applauded lightly. “Cute!”

“I really cannot thank you enough, Pidge,” Allura said, admiring herself in the mirror, the pink hair piece matching perfectly with the light fabric, the bracelet and necklace they’d gotten her accentuating further. She looked--well, she hadn’t really thought she’d get the chance to dress like this again. She’d been… busy.

She smiled, shoulders sinking, and watched her own eyes soften in her reflection. “Truly,” she said, quieter but with underlying intent, “this means more than I can say.”

“Yeah, well,” Pidge shoved their hands into their pockets and shrugged, pale skin betraying their flush entirely. “I’m happy you’re happy.”

Allura hugged their arm and bent to press a kiss firmly on their cheek, and they made a disgusted noise and immediately pawed at the mark. “Ugh!” they cried in their nasally parody, “Cooties! Alien princess cooties!”

Allura laughed at their continued theatrics, at one point even sinking to their knees and beseeching the sky to take their soul with kindness. It drew more than just a few looks, particularly since their hair was still up and they were clearly the green paladin, but Allura hardly minded the attention. If she was a princess here, it was the over-the-top caricature of one, and she could be as embarrassing with her friend in public as she wanted.

When she tried to kiss their cheek a second time, they ducked out of the way and darted off. Allura naturally gave chase.

They were not a naturally athletic or quick footed individual, their tiny legs likely of no assistance there, but they were clever and could more easily maneuver than she could in her new dress that she would _not_ be getting tears in. She finally caught them, hoisting them bodily under the armpits and pressing a peck to their pointy hair, and they let out the silliest “NOOOOOOO” she’d ever heard, prompting another bout of giggles out of them both.

“Oh, hey,” Pidge said, flipping back to normal once again, “Ice cream.” Allura released them and they trotted over to another vendor, this one having taken up a post further away from the general market area, but right at the edge of what appeared to be some sort of garden. They allowed their picture to be taken holding one of the cones, and returned to Allura holding two spires of pinkish paste with red chunks in them.

“Figured strawberry would fit the theme,” they said, lifting their pointer fingers from the cones to double-pistol at her, and Allura blinked as something clicked into place.

When Matt had been aboard the castle of the lions, he’d grown quite besotted with Allura. Always very respectful, yes, but flirtatious nonetheless. It had been flattering, the way he’d strut and point his fingers, and how he’d plied her with small, seemingly random gifts, and how vocally he’d admired her accomplishments and appearance both. He’d been eager for her attention, gleeful for every tick she’d spent listening to him prattle about this or that or the other. Nothing had come of the relationship, of course, though she’d learned much of Earth courtship customs. It came as no surprise to Allura that the pair of siblings would share the same love languages.

What surprised Allura was just _how long_ it had taken her to figure it out. The ease of their friendship, the casual intimacy Pidge and Allura shared, had masked Pidge’s true feelings from Allura. She felt hot in the face, and rather stupid, as she took the ice cream from Pidge.

“Oh, cold,” she remarked quietly, attention turning briefly to the pink paste. She licked it, as Pidge was doing, and found it sweet. Definitely deserving of having “ice” in the title, though, and the cool treat was _wonderful_ after a long desert day. 

“You know, Pidge,” Allura said as they meandered into the gardeny area, “You can be honest with me.”

“Yeah, I know,” they said casually, practically careless. Allura pursed her lips briefly, but was not daunted.

“I mean it. If there’s anything you _ever_ want to talk about,” she prompted. They looked at her quizzically. _”Anything.”_

“Uhhh,” Pidge glanced around, then rolled their eyes back to the right as though trying to remember. “I use men’s deodorant even though it smells kinda weird, just because if I don’t I’ll sweat through it within, like, ten minutes,” they stated, and Allura felt her expectations crash alongside a bubbling urge to laugh. “I’m mildly lactose intolerant, but not to the point where this ice cream is gonna bother me too bad I just can’t eat too much cheese--wait, right, sorry, Alteans don’t like milk, do they?” Pidge asked, looking up at her with sudden worry. “Sorry, I totally spaced, I forgot all about the milkshake thing, here, you don’t have to eat that.”

Allura glanced down at the cold treat, which really was quite delicious and truly a relief after the heat of their outing, and thinned her lips into a line.

“Tell you what,” she said, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say anything about milk, and just continue eating it in ignorance.”

Pidge snorted, but shrugged their shoulders. “Yeah, okay. Though, I gotta say, it would make sense if Alteans were lactose intolerant. Like, more than me; most species stop drinking milk after they’re weaned but humans adapted the ability in areas where resources were pretty scarce and--wait, this probably isn’t what you meant.”

“I _was_ thinking of something a little more personal, yes.”

Pidge sighed, grimacing a little. “I’m not… really good at this whole,” Pidge flapped their free hand wildly about, “I dunno, sleepover secret-sharing thing? Growing up I was kinda ‘the weird kid.’ It was just me and my brother.” Pidge smiled, always so fond when it came to their family. “That makes me sound kinda lame though, huh. I can see the headlines now, ‘Local nerd only has brother for friend.’”

“I don’t think that’s lame,” Allura said, taking their hand in her own and keeping clear of any pity that might leak into her voice. She didn’t pity Pidge, far from it, she admired them beyond what words could say, but her heart could not help but squeeze at the idea that such a bright light would have such a lonely childhood. Then again, was she truly different? She’d never had anyone like the paladins, before.

Pidge shook themself and took another long lick from their cone. “Anyway, yeah, not something I have a lot of practice with. Was there something you were looking for in particular?”

Allura smirked and gave Pidge’s hand a squeeze. “You like me.”

“Yeah, obviously,” Pidge said, and Allura couldn’t help but feel that her words had gone misinterpreted.

“You _like_ me,” Allura repeated, and Pidge came to a halt. They squinted up at her, lips parted in surprised confusion. Looked down to where they were joined at the hand. Looked at the ice cream, Allura’s dress, her face again.

“What?!” Pidge exclaimed, and Allura bit her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing. “What, no I don’t; I’m aro, I--” They stared into the middle distance, gears all but audibly whirring in their super-smart brain. “Oh my god,” they said, “Oh my god I _like_ you! Oh my god, I’m demi, and I have a crush on you!”

Allura’s shoulders were shaking with mirth, watching Pidge string together all the evidence she herself had just finished assembling. 

“Fuck!” Pidge exclaimed, and the explicative prompted Allura into full-fledged laughter. “Fuck, I _like_ you! How long have you known?!” Their tone might have sounded accusatory if it weren’t so utterly baffled.

“I just realized myself!”

“Do you like me? Wait, you have to, you wouldn’t have brought it up if you didn’t. How long have you liked me?!”

“I don’t know!” Allura admitted, tears forming in her eyes, trying very hard not to lose her ice cream off the top of her cone. 

“What’s happening!?” Pidge exclaimed, the top of their ice cream lurching dangerously and Pidge barely yanked it up in time to prevent a spill. 

“I think we like each other!”

“FUCK!” 

And then they were lost to their laughter, a cool and sticky stream of melted ice cream passing over Allura’s fingers as they giggled together in the garden. Allura was bent over, and Pidge bonked their forehead into hers, their laughter settling into heavy breathing and contented hums, occasional aftershocks chuckling out of them.

“Does this mean you’re my girlfriend?” Pidge asked, seemingly dazed by the question.

“Hmmm,” Allura pretended to ponder, then pressed another kiss to their cheek, right at the corner of their mouth. “I think it does.”

“Double gross, now I have cooties _and_ they’re sticky.”

“However shall you retaliate?” Allura asked, prodding, and she knew they could see the mischievous glint in her eye. After all, she could see a matching one in theirs.

They leaned in, Allura’s face bowed close, and then took a large chomp out of her ice cream.

“Hey!”

Pidge pulled free from her hand, shoving their own remaining treat into their mouth, and she let out an affronted gasp and gave chase once again. She caught them much more easily this time, pinning them in a headlock and peppering their face with sticky-sweet kisses. Pidge wiggled, and before Allura knew it they had their camera out and a picture of the two of them, slightly blurry with movement, on their phone screen.

“I’m gonna make that my background,” Pidge stated as Allura admired the shot. “Mind if I tell my family?”

“Please do.”

Pidge sent out the image in a text, and Allura pulled a twig that had gotten caught out of her hair.

“Ugh!” Pidge groaned. “Mom insists that I bring you over for dinner so she can meet you.”

“If we’re going to be living in the same space ship as her for the indefinite future, we may as well get acquainted,” Allura said reasonably. Pidge, very unreasonably, stuck their tongue out at her. She darted forward and pretended to nip at it, teeth clicking closed on open air.

Dr. & Dr. Holt were lovely people, though Allura rapidly became aware of why Pidge considered Colleen to be “intense as a black-footed cat.” When Matt arrived, Pidge slung their arm around Allura’s waist and pointed at her.

“HEY MATT GUESS WHO’S DATING THE HOT SPACE PRINCESS!?” they bellowed the moment he was through the door, smug and surprisingly loud.

Matt turned to Allura, a polite and genuinely happy smile through every line of his features, “Oh congratulations Allura! I hope you two have a really good time,” he said. Then the polite and happy lad was gone and he dropped into a crab stance.

“I CAN’T BE-FUCKING-LIEVE YOU YOU SMARMY LITTLE TOAD.”

“Language,” Sam said without looking up from his data pad, and went entirely ignored.

“SUCK ON THIS MATTY NOW WHO’S THE COOL ONE?”

“SINCE WHEN DO _YOU_ GET TO DATE HOT SPACE PRINCESSES THIS IS NO FAIR!”

“Legitimately though, it’s kind of surprising that I ended up dating the hot space princess and you ended up dating the android.”

“Yeah you’d think it would be the other way around.” Matt pulled Pidge into a light, easily-broken headlock and noogied them. “Your hair looks stupid.”

“Oh yeah, huh. I actually kind of forgot it still looked like that.”

“Is this what you like, Allura?” Matt said, theatrical and mock-brokenhearted, “Weird-haired little gremlins?”

“I’m afraid I find weird-haired little gremlins to be _entirely_ irresistible, it’s true,” Allura said with a solemn nod, which only lasted about as long as it took for Pidge to break out into snickers. 

Then their mother grabbed them.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“NooooooOOOOOOO!”

“Yes,” Colleen insisted, dragging them towards the living area. “Allura, N-7, come as well! Family photo time.”

“I refuse to be perceived!!” Pidge shouted, wriggling and struggling, but their mother was stronger than they were and had the attitude of a woman who would not be accepting no as an answer. Allura trotted along obediently, honestly just happy to be included, and Matt draped an arm around N-7’s waist to join them on Allura’s other side.

“Traitor,” Pidge said, lifting an accusatory finger Allura’s way. She smiled.

“It’ll be nice to be in a family photograph again,” she said, and there was a longing in her voice that she hadn’t quite expected. Hadn’t quite tamped down. Pidge’s face softened, their body going slack in their mother’s arms.

“Yeah,” they said, reaching out and taking her hand. “Well, welcome to the Holts.”

Matt placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s good to have you.”

“Alright, everybody smile,” Sam said, setting the camera timer on the tripod and rushing over to stand alongside his wife. The red dot beeped, then beeped thrice rapidly, and there was a flash and a click.

“That’s all you’re getting,” Pidge said, darting immediately away, but Colleen would later remark that surprisingly enough, that was all that was needed. She and her husband were linked arm in arm along one border, proudly looking on over their children. Matt and N-7 held up the other side, casually affectionate with one another and looking directly at the camera. Pidge was in the middle, smallest as they were (and most likely to make a break for it), with their arms around Allura, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Concrit always appreciated! <3 Tell me your thoughts!


End file.
